Winter Water Skiing and Ice Breaking
I am convinced that I need to drive up to see these guys whenever I complain that nobody is skiing.
Categories: Uncategorized | 
Tags: | 
No Comments »
Hibernation Killed my Website
Hibernation away from Waterskiing in Upstate NY is a painful thing. While the entire planet has not stopped skiing on a regular basis, it is sometimes easier to push the concept of your favorite past time as far away as possible, knowing you won’t see it for a long cold winter.
Regardless, I apologize. There is no excuse for the site going quiet, except that I have been the only one adding content. The answer to the big question is YES, this site will be active again.
The Forums
That area needs to die, and become an actual forum. The built in plugin for Wordpress filled the site with so many bogus logins and spam services, that I spent a good couple days cleaning out the mess. It should, and will remain a separate entity, so that it does not impact the usability of this site.
Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments »
Hydrofoil Record (826 Flips/hr)
I have a good friend who has transitioned his time away from the slalom ski over to the hydrofoil. While I constantly refer to the sport as the retirement option for skiers, calling it a rocking chair instead of an air chair, there are people out there set to prove me wrong regarding it’s position in the sport.
This week we saw the record being broken for the most consecutive flips in a one hour span on a hydrofoil. I am not sure I can quite comprehend what it means to flip 826 times in one hour, but Geno Yauchler has set a new record, shattering the record set only in 2008 by Greg Gill who had 529 flips.
While I do want to point out that the fact that anybody could physically do that within an hour, obviously makes it less demanding on the body than slalom skiing, it was a damn impressive display of which I get dizzy thinking about.
Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments »
The lost scrolls of the HO Monza
Last winter, I bought a 2007 closeout HO Monza waterski as my transition from a HO Magnum into something resembling a tournament ski. It was the largest ski I could buy at the best price, and the purchase decision doesn’t really get much deeper than that.
Little did I realize how painful it would be finding the setup information for the ski. This year I had a close friend who bought the 2008 HO Monza, also without any information about it. My quest was put forth to find the fin settings and information regarding how to get the ski back to the original factory settings. Easier said than done apparently as the lack of information available online has been painful.
The HO website has the “current” ski setup guide, represented in a chart, which is really a picture on their website. Let me complain about that for a sentence or two. One would anticipate that having the fin settings for this years Monza would be the same for all the model years, but they are not. The HO website is one big graphical sales pitch, none of which gives me an ounce of information that I can use to get my ski setup. Psssst, how about you let the customer service department show up to the table on the next version of the website, instead of only the sales team. The nerd in me is a little upset that there is an image file representing the setup chart. Putting it into an image, instead of text or even a PDF document, keeps it off of the search engines, again making the effort to find the information nothing but painful.
I figured out that HO WaterSkis was on Twitter, so I sent them a Tweet, asking for a link to the documents. I was impressed because they responded, asking me to send them a DM (Direct Message) with my email address. 
I replied back and said I can’t send them a DM, unless they unlock that ability in their security settings, or actually follow me in Twitter. I actually tried to send a direct message a few times, until I realize it was failing.
While I never heard back from them, after that tweet, I sent an email a couple weeks later asking again for the information. I am still waiting to get any information out of HO, but I do have a positive spin on an otherwise failed customer service story.
I now have in my possession a copy of a copy of the original owners manual that was supposed to come with my 2007 Monza. At least I think it was the 2007, manual, but there are no dates. The information in the Quick Setup guide and information in the pamphlet I was supposed to receive, is actually REALLY useful. It goes over the basics of fin adjustments, how adding or removing fin depth can affect either side of your position in the water, and even how to measure the settings. Why they don’t want this information to be out there to the world, I have no idea. I will work on scanning it in, as these are just photos I took from the iPhone. At least you can read them. which is more than you get online with HO.
The final twist in this tale is the last page of information where it tells you to go to hosports.com or hosyndicate.com for more information.
While you already know that going to www.hosports.com will give you the information for the current ski only. What you do not know is that I can guarantee you that going to www.hosyndicate.com will not give you ANY information and never will. You see, I own that domain. After I went there, found a dead site that wasn’t registered, I bought the domain name. While it would be too easy for ME to start posting information on HOSyndicate.com, I think I would rather leave it dead or perhaps raffle it off to the highest bidder who can send me a ski with an owners manual.
Categories: From the Dock, Hardware Review | Tags: | 1 Comment »
Legends Competition This Weekend
This weekend there is a Pro-Am tournament at Diablo Shores in Northern California. There is a legends division added that will include Kris LaPoint, Bob LaPoint, Lucky Lowe and Andy Mapple. The first 3 guys were “gods” in the 80’s, with Andy being the young gun carrying his massive domination through the 90’s and into the 2000’s.
The rumor is this “Legends” division has a top speed of 35mph. I will check to see what the deal is here, more to come. The best part is the whole thing is going to be webcast over the weekend through the link below.
http://www.webcast-tv.com/DiabloShoresProAm/
Categories: Tournament Coverage | Tags: | No Comments »
Chris Parrish Ties World Record (on a Goode)
I am not sure which is more news worthy, Chris Parrish running 1 & 1/2 buoys at 43 off to tie the world record, or that he is now on a Goode ski.
Ski brands are always the controversy on the docks and Goode has a powerful reputation. It will certainly change up the industry a bit to have the world record holder and a pro rider on Goode hardware.
The video is in HD, and you can click through to YouTube if you want to see the larger version.
Categories: From the Dock | Tags: | No Comments »
Soaked at Harkies 2009
I couldn’t make it out to the tournament in upstate NY this past weekend, so I bribed Jim Dibella to bring a camera and snap a few shots. It turned out to be a wet half of the day, making skiing a frigid experience for everybody involved. We even saw Rob break out the dry suit to try and combat the challenge.
Categories: Tournament Coverage | Tags: | No Comments »
Lucky Lowe tames Owego
A few people have passed along this video from the weekend clinic with Lucky Lowe here in Owego NY. Having local clinics has to be the best opportunities to gain some key pointers to improve your abilities on the water. I was able to meet a few of the participants in this video at the Buoy Bash this past weekend.
Somebody took some time to put this video together, which takes a lot of time. I have admitted that I am a still image photographer first, so I really appreciate when somebody puts a full video together.
It looks like a great weekend. Put me on the list of people who should have been there.
Categories: Skiing Clinics | Tags: | 1 Comment »
Crystal Springs and Buoy Bash 18
I took a small road trip this weekend, along with my wife, to go and see the site that Darrell and Crystal DeBay built, near Friendship NY. It was actually a sanctioned event weekend, marking the 18th time they have hosted the Buoy Bash at their lake. The event, the atmosphere and the location itself were absolutely beautiful.
I went through a verbal bashing for not bringing my slalom ski, from every person on the site who recognized me. While it sounds harsh, it is actually one of the most welcoming receptions I could have hoped for from the group, making me feel like part of the family. I think Darrell even offered to carve a ski from a tree on site for me.
Crystal Springs
The site itself was nothing short of a picture perfect location, nestled into the hills of the Southern Tier of NY state. There is another event in late September I believe. If the color starts coming out of some of the autumn leaves, it will make for a breath taking venue that would be worth the trip for anybody.
It is the first time I have been to an 8 ball course. While I still have problems understanding 6 balls, the layout of the course makes sense quickly and it didn’t take long to get the rhythm of how it worked. In order to make the lake long enough for the slalom course, they excavated out the south end of the lake to accommodate the course. By having 2 extra balls in the water, you start your course run at the second set of balls and finish on the last in either direction. While it might take some getting used to for us amateur skiers, nobody seemed frazzled by the setup.
Categories: Tournament Coverage | Tags: | 1 Comment »
The Voice of Waterskiing
Finding the sources for information in the waterskiing world is sometimes challenging. While some of the larger venues have been making it into more modern media options, the local and regional events are a still struggling a little. When we find a source for the information however, we welcome it with open arms.
If you want more information from the World’s tournament than you gathered from the handful of places online, look no further than the man doing the announcing.
Tony Lightfoot has been announcing the largest venues in water skiing for probably longer than I have been skiing. He is also a notch ahead in the game of online media, as he has been sharing his video and interviews with the rest of the world on his Blog. While you can dig around and find a lot of Tony’s content online, following his updates from the source will certainly keep you in touch with some of the larger events going on.
For all of the interview videos from the 6 days of World’s tournaments…
Thanks Tony
Categories: From the Dock | Tags: | No Comments »